Marty Pallman
Week 5 of the high school football season saw some of the best action of the 2022 season so far.
And in what may have been the game of the year so far in the Prep Zone Power Poll coverage area, the No. 1 Buchholz Bobcats pulled out a huge 24-21 win at then-No. 5 Vanguard (Ocala) at Booster Stadium last Friday night.
Buchholz senior kicker Reed Rousseau nailed a 37-yard field goal with 14 seconds left to keep the Bobcats unbeaten at 4-0 and keep Buchholz atop the regional rankings for another week. Senior quarterback Creed Whittemore, a UF commit, threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another score as the Bobcats received six of the nine first-place votes to remain on top of the power poll.
Vanguard (3-2), who was led by junior quarterback Fred Gaskin, who also threw for two scores and ran for another, drops two spots to a tie for seventh place with Mainland (Daytona Beach).
Following Buchholz and remaining No. 2 this week is Trinity Christian (Jacksonville). The Conquerors also remained unbeaten by improving to 5-0 as they eased past RV Columbia (Lake City), 43-30. Trinity Christian receives the other three first-place votes and now sees their schedule settle down a bit except for a district 1-1M championship matchup with No. 5 University Christian (Jacksonville) on Oct. 14.
Bartram Trail remains at No. 3. The Bears (5-0) stayed unbeaten by outlasting rival St. Augustine in a 59-37 shootout. It was the fifth consecutive win for Bartram Trail over the Yellow Jackets.
Hawthorne stays steady at No. 4 after winning their home opener 46-6 against P.K. Yonge to stay undefeated at 4-0.
University Christian rounds out the top five. The Christians (5-0) move up four spots to No. 5 after taking a seven-hour bus trip north to the Georgia mountains and blasting Rabun Gap-Nacoochee (GA), 49-13.
Bradford (Starke) starts off the second five. The Tornadoes (4-0) are up four spots this week after a 21-7 win over Munroe (Quincy).
Tied with Vanguard at No. 7 is Mainland (Daytona Beach). The Bucs (3-1) move up a slot after handing then-No. 12 Lake Minneola (Minneola) its first loss of the season, 39-26. Lake Minneola (4-1) only dropped two slots to 14th despite the loss.
Rounding out the top 10 is No. 9 Raines (Jacksonville) and No. 10 Creekside (St. Johns). Raines improved to 3-1 by pulling out a tough 20-17 win on the road against then-No. 14T Trinity Catholic (Ocala).
Creekside (4-1) rebounded from its first loss of the season to Buchholz the week before by winning 37-27 at RV Mandarin (Jacksonville).
New to the rankings this week are No. 15 South Sumter (Bushnell), who moved to 5-0 with a 42-10 trouncing of Mitchell (New Port Richey).
Chiefland is at No. 18 with a 4-0 record and had its bye week last Friday.
Union County (Lake Butler) also moves back in at No. 20 after blasting previously undefeated Newberry on the road, 45-0. The Tigers were ranked in the preseason poll before losing in week one contest at University Christian.
Dropping out from last week are Madison County, who fell to 2-3 after a 21-6 loss at Florida High (Tallahassee), and Oakleaf (Orange Park), who followed up an upset win at No. 12 Fleming Island (Orange Park) the previous week by losing at previously winless Chiles (Tallahassee).
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, girls basketball, boys basketball, softball & baseball teams (regardless of FHSAA classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2022 FOOTBALL POLL #6
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
Teams in Mainstreet Daily News coverage area are in bold.
1. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (6) (4-0) – 176
2. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (3) (5-0) – 174
3. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (5-0) – 163
4. Hawthorne (1R) (4-0) – 144
5. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (5-0) – 129
6. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (4-0) – 127
7T. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (3-1) – 124
7T. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (3-2) – 124
9. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (3-1) – 89
10. Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (4-1) – 82
11. Ed White (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-1) – 75
12. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (4S) (3-1) – 62
13. North Marion (Citra) (2S) (4-1) – 51
14. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (4-1) – 50
15. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (5-0) – 45
16. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-1) – 43
17. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-3) – 39
18. Chiefland (1R) (4-0) – 35
19. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (2-2) – 30
20. Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (3-1) – 24
Also receiving votes: Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (2M) (5-0) – 17; Baldwin (2S) (4-1) – 14; Williston (1R) (4-0) – 14; Deltona (3S) (5-0) – 13; Columbia (Lake City) (3S) (2-3) – 10; Springstead (Spring Hill) (4S) (5-0) – 10; Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (2S) (3-1) – 8; Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine) (2S) (4-1) – 8; Palatka (2S) (4-0) – 7; Episcopal (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-0) – 4; Oakleaf (Orange Park) (4S) (3-2) – 4; Madison County (1R) (2-3) – 3; Mandarin (Jacksonville) (4M) (3-2) – 1.